Norwegian finds his princess on the internet

Anyone who has tried dating over the internet will know that people often try to pass themselves off as richer, prettier and more important than they really are.

But quite the opposite happened for Norwegian youth worker Sveinung Hobberstad in his online romance with Sylvia from Ghana. "She told me she was a queen, and I said: 'Yes, you are my princess' and didn't think more of it," he told The Independent on Sunday.

The two had been emailing each other for almost a year, and then decided to take the romance off-line, and Mr Hobberstad travelled from his small hometown of Varhaug in south-western Norway to meet Sylvia face to face - in Ghana - last year.

It was only when he arrived there he realised she had not been joking.

Sylvia was indeed a queen - or "queen mother" as the local title translates - and considered a royal through matrilineal descent in parts of one of central Ghana's regions. After a debate on whether Sylvia could retain her title even if they opted to live in Norway, the couple were given the go-ahead, and the wedding took place a few weeks later. Queen mother Sylvia is now awaiting permission to live with her new husband in Norway.